Lucy Nix Heartfilia
by 2Nerdzz
Summary: Lucy left Fairy Tail leaving no reason as to why, leaving everything she owned and even her celestial keys. After moving to a new town Lucy changed her appearance and became known as Nix, but when her friends come searching for her will her mask break, or is she to far gone to return to being Lucy Heartfilia. ** Rated T for Cursing & Violence**
1. Nix

**Hey everyone, I'm back. Did you miss me? Well I missed you guys!**

**So this was an idea that I came up with one day. This won't have any romance in it sorry.**

**Anyway I hope you enjoy it!**

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It's never easy being alone, being the only person to endure your survival. People however always seem to find a way to get by, or find where they belong. I should know, I found where I belong, with my fellow fairies at Fairy Tail. What's worse than being alone, is being forced to be alone, to protect those you love and care about.

I never thought I would be someone to voluntarily be alone and be forced to be alone, but, I somehow never was truly alone, until now at least. I layed alone in my bed, in a city I've only just arrived in, a bag of new clothes by the bedside. I brought nothing with me, not even my celestial keys, I can't have anyone find me. I got out of the bed and picked up the bag of clothes, then walked into the bathroom. There wasn't much in the bag, a pair of dark blue jeans, a light grey shirt, a pair of black gloves with the fingers cut off, and a black hoodie.

I changed into my new clothes, and looked at myself in the mirror. The gloves were meant to cover up my guild insignia, which from the looks of it were working pretty well. I wasn't used to wearing dark colors so seeing myself in the mirror looked pretty strange. My hair was hanging down, the only thing left for people to recognize me by. There was only one thing left in the bag, a pair of scissors.

The silver blades on the scissors made me feel cold, but I lifted them out of the bag, and gave a final look at my long blonde hair. Slowly, I started to cut parts of my hair off, clobs of blonde hair fell to the ground. My hair went from being past my shoulder to barely being to my ear. It reminded me of Natsu's hair, how messy it was anyway, but a shorter version of it. I cleaned up the remains of my long hair and threw it away, I also cut up my old clothes and threw them away as well.

After cleaning up the mess I had made I looked in the mirror again, the person who looked back wasn't in any shape Lucy Heartfilia, it was like a dark version of her. The messily cut hair was sticking up in all directions, but strangely fit the look. I gave a weak smile to the person in the mirror, who returned it.

"The hardest part is over at least," I said softly with a sigh of relief. There was only one thing left to do, I lifted the nearby bottle of perfume that was given to me as a sample and sprayed it all over my body to ensure no one could pick up my direct scent.

3 Weeks Earlier

"I'm just saying," Natsu said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You're just saying that you could have taken on all those bandits on your own," Gray said with a smirk. "Then why did you call out to Lucy," Gray said still smirking, Erza let out a small giggle as Natsu stopped walking and turned towards Gray.

"I was worried about Lucy," Natsu said childishly.

"Sure you where flame brain," Gray said as he walked past Natsu. I could tell Natsu was starting to get angry, which made me also giggle a little bit. The four of us walked by my apartment.

"Hey, I'll catch up with you guys at the guild," I said smiling, giving them a wave of good bye.

"Don't take too long Luce," Natsu called back as I began to enter. I hurried up to my apartment and opened the door to find a note on the floor. It was addressed to me, but the letters were a dark blue, and strangely gave me the feeling of needing to run. I opened the letter and began to read the short note it held.

Ms. Heartfilia,

It has come into our attention that you hold a majority of the golden keys, and we just so happen to be looking for a Celestial Wizard. We request that you meet us at 12 tonight. If you deny our request to meet bad things will happen to your friends. We truly hope you accept our request.

Your Friends.

The note sent shivers up my spine, there was an odd presence that came with the letter. Like what ever was going to happen if I didn't comply wood actually happen.

Present Time

I was walking down the street from my hotel, my hands in my pockets, my hood pulled up. I could only imagine what was going at at Fairy Tail, at this point I wouldn't have been there for the past 2 days. Natsu would probably be the most worried if he goes into my apartment and sees that I'm not there.

I felt sorry for leaving everyone at Fairy Tail, for not leaving a note, or anything. If they find me they might even be more heartbroken to see what I've become, or I should say becoming. I need to act the role I'm looking, which in this case is someone who's not afraid to get into a fight.

But if I'm to act like I'm not afraid to get into a fight I would need to learn how to fight without magic, or weapons. I glanced down at my hand and made a weak fist, I never imagined I would have to learn to fight hand to hand. When I looked back up I ran into someone who was facing away from me.

"Hey, what's the big idea," the lady said turning around with anger in her eyes. She had long brown hair, and pale blue eyes that fit with her somewhat muscular body.

"Uh, sorry, wasn't paying attention," I quickly apologized in a monotone voice. Then her eyes flickered for a second, and the anger left.

"No one takes responsibility for their actions anymore, I like you," she said a wide smile appearing on her face.

"Uh, thanks," I replied, turning to walk back towards my hotel room.

"Not so fast," she said grabbing my shoulder and turning me around. "Are you trying to get into a fight," she asked, a smile still on her face.

"Uh, no," I answered again trying to turn away and walk back towards the hotel.

"Well you're going to get into a fight looking like that. And I take it that by the way you apologized you don't want to get into fights," she said again grabbing my shoulder and turning me around.

"No, I don't want to get into fights," I replied, giving up on walking back to my hotel.

"Do you even know how to fight," the woman asked her smile disappearing to be replaced with a slightly confused face.

"I can fight with a whip," I answered, the woman's eyes then scanned my body for a whip.

"Then why don't you have one".

"I, uh, didn't think I would need one".

"You don't have one period do you".

"Not at the moment".

"Do you intend to get one".

"Not really".

"That's it," she said a smile appearing on her face. "You're coming with me," she said throwing her arm over my shoulder.

"Uh, I really don't think this is a good idea," I stammered in shock of being pulled farther away from my hotel room.

"Don't worry you'll be fine, my name's Zo," Zo said looking at me with a wide smile that reminded me of Natsu's. "What's your name," she then asked.

"My name, uh, it's Nix," I replied.

"You don't sound so sure about that," Zo said.

"My name's Nix," I repeated with a sterner tone.

"I like you Nix, I can tell you and I will go a long way," she said still smiling as she dragged me down the street.

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**So love it or hate it?**

**Hopefully love it!**

**Any questions about the story feel free to pm me or leave a review I will respond to both!**

**By the way this is a weekly updated story, so every Saturday this will be updated! Hopefully next week's update won't be so late.**

**Until next time, Nerdz out!**


	2. A New Home With Old Friends

**Hey everyone who decided to continue reading my story. Welcome back.**

**Please forgive any grammatical mistakes, I hope they don't take you out of the story.**

**And because I forgot to say this in the previous chapter I don't own Fairy Tail.**

**Enjoy.**

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"So Nix, how do you like my place," Zo asked showing me around her gym, or her home, which ever she decided to call it.

"It's uh, nice," I said plainly looking around. She had dragged me all the way home, for what reason.

"Glad you like it cause this is where you're going to be living for the next few weeks," Zo said turning around to reveal her innocent big smile.

"Li-Living here," I stammered in confusion.

"You said it yourself you don't have a way to fight someone off, so I'm taking you under my wing," Zo said still smiling.

"You don't have too," I said trying to step away.

"Please, you'll get yourself killed out there, or caught," she said her smile disappearing to be replaced with a hardened, concerned face.

"What do you mean I'll get caught," I asked.

"The way you carry yourself, and the way you talk conflict each other," Zo explained. "You act like you want to fight everyone in your way, but you talk like a girl who's lost," Zo said not moving her eyes away from me. "It's clear to anyone who been in a situation like it to tell you're hiding from something," her eyes were piercing my mask. "You're protecting someo- no, not one person, you're protecting a group of people," she said as her eyes analysed me more closely.

"If I was hiding, and protecting people, how are you so sure," I asked.

"Like I said, anyone who's been in a similar situation can tell," Zo said her face still stern. "I won't pry for knowledge on your, situation, but I also won't let you go through it alone. I want to take you under my wing to help you hide, and to help you fit the image you're looking," Zo said a small smiling appearing.

"Uh, thank you," I said unsure if I could trust her.

"So Nix, who are you trying to become," she asked.

"I want to become the opposite of who I was. I want to be someone who doesn't need to rely on anyone," I said looking down.

"Okay, well, you're going to need to rely on someone to some degree for a bit. Once you get on your feet though, I'm not sure, you look as if you've already been on your own for a bit. How do you plan on defending yourself".

"I was going to learn how to fight," I said looking up to meet eyes that were still piercing my mask.

"On your own," Zo immediately asked.

"I wasn't to sure yet," I answered.

"Looks like taking you under my wing was a good idea," she said smiling. "I'll teach you to fight".

"You really don-".

"You don't have any connections here, that's obvious by the way you were wondering around town. And you don't already know how to fight, you probably spent all your remaining money on a hotel, and you're hiding from someone or thing. So yes, I would say I really do have to do this for you," Zo said standing up.

"Thank you," I said.

"Don't thank me, it's the least I could do for someone who left everything to protect people," Zo said walking into another room. "I'll get started on dinner," she yelled to me. "You can get started on learning to fight by doing 50 push ups, none of the girly crap, full on push ups".

"Uh," I murmured.

"Just do it, or it'll make tomorrow harder than it really is," Zo yelled looking at me from the doorway. I set myself on the ground, and got into push up position. My arms bent, making my entire body to go towards the floor and pushed myself back up.

"One," I murmured. I repeated this process for several minutes. Getting up to 30 before my arms started to hurt. Zo either left her cooking, or was finished because she was sitting in the doorway watching me finish the 50 push ups. Once finished my now noodly arms collapsed making my body follow.

"Come on Nix, time for dinner, then I'll show you your room," Zo said getting me to my feet. She set me in a chair that had a bowl of noodle soup setting in front of it, how fitting.

"I won't lie," she said sitting down in her own chair. "I didn't think you could do all those push ups," she said picking up her utensils and started eating.

"Had to force myself to finish it," I replied, reaching for my utensils only to feel a burn go up my arm, making me lower my arm.

"Best way to get rid of the burn it to work the muscles," Zo said looking at me. I again reached for the utensils and picked them up and started eating the warm food. "Hope you like it, usually I don't make soups," Zo said after I swallowed.

"It's good," I replied going in for a second bite. The rest of our meal was eaten in silence, I was still somewhat cautious of Zo, but I had a gut feeling that I could trust her. After both our plates were cleared and washed Zo stood up.

"I'm sure you're tired," she said, I gave a slight nod, haven't been able to sleep much for the past few days. "Follow me," she said leading me down a small hallway. After passing several doors she stopped and opened one.

"You can sleep here, there's more blankets in the closet if you need them," she said letting me into the room. The room itself was small but felt comfy to me, the bed was pushed up against the wall, and a mirror and dresser stood on the opposite wall of the bed. "I'll wake you up at dawn to start your training," Zo said before leaving me.

Without a second thought I climbed into the bed and pulled the covers over me, and for the first time in what felt like weeks I fell asleep.

6 Months Laters

"Come on Nix, Harder," Zo commanded as I punched the bag that she held in front of me. I responded by hitting the bag harder than I already was. Over the last few months I've been training all day, learning to fight, and building my strength. Sweat dripped from my brow onto the floor, I was breathing hard, and I could tell my punches were getting weaker with each punch.

"Zo, some mages are here to see you," a muscular man said at the front of the room. Zo dropped the bags and wiped her sweat from her brow.

"I'll be there in a second," she called back. "Go get a drink and rewrap those arms," she told me before walking towards the door. I let out a large breath before walking over to my bottle of water and a pile of cloth that I used for my hands. I gave a quick glance around the room to make sure no one was either around or looking before I started to unwrap my right hand, I did it quickly to ensure that by the time anyone came back my hand would already be wrapped.

After wrapping my hands I took a swig of water and wiped my forehead with a towel. A mirror was in front of the benches I was sitting at. Looking at it I saw myself, a young woman with messy extremely short blonde hair, and muscular arms. I was wearing a black shirt and sweats and a pair of running shoes. I took another sip of water, then stood up and went to a punching bag.

I waited a couple minutes for Zo to come back, but when she didn't I started doing my drill alone. Left, Right, Left, Left, Right, I thought to myself as I punched the bag with all my strength and speed. I repeated this combo several times before adding to it. Left, Right, Left, Left, Right, Left Kick, Right Kick, Right, Right, Left, I thought to myself as I added on to the original combo.

I was getting ready for my final strike when I heard my name called.

"Nix," Zo said behind me, I stopped punching the bag and brought it to a slow sway before turning to look.

"Yeah," I said, nothing else was able to leave my mouth after I saw the four people who stood by her side. Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Wendy were standing there, looking at me.

"These are some wizards from Fairy Tail, they're here searching for a friend," Zo said. "I'm friends with their guild master Makarov, and agreed to have them with us for a while," she continued a smile on her face. I didn't say anything, I was unable to say anything.

"Hi, I'm Wendy, this is Erza, Gray, and Natsu, pleasure to meet you," Wendy said stepping forward and giving a slight smile.

"Nix," I replied.

"If you don't mind I was going to have Erza and Wendy sleep with you in your room. I'm having Mikel move some beds into there," Zo said.

"Okay," I said.

"Okay, go on with your drills, I'll go show them to their rooms, I'll get started on dinner soon," Zo added before leading the group away from me. As soon as they left my sight I started hitting the bag harder, anger filled my body. She's friends with Makarov, she probably knows who I am, and I can't leave or Natsu and them will know it's me too, dammit, I thought to myself punching the bag as hard as I could.

"What am I going to do," I murmured to myself as I punched the bag repeatedly.

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**Sorry if you think the story is slow at the moment, but things will start picking up in the next chapter.**

**If there are any questions please pm me or leave a review, I will respond to them ASAP.**

**I also want to thank everyone who favorited and/or followed when I released the first chapter, it shows that someone is enjoying the story.**

**Until next week, Nerdz out.**


	3. Hidden Behind a Cracking Mask

"So what brings you to town," Zo asked as we ate dinner.

"We're looking for our friend Lucy," Natsu answered, a smile no where to be seen on his face.

"What does she look like," Zo asked. I tried to stay out of the conversation as much as possible and was eating quietly.

"She has long blond hair, big brown eyes, she usually wears bright colors and has the guild insignia on her right hand," Erza answered.

"How long has she been missing," Zo asked glancing over to me who was in the middle of a bite.

"About 7 months," Natsu said looking at his bowl of food.

"Are you sure she even still looks like that," Zo said, I could tell she is making a possible connection between me and Fairy Tail.

"We're hoping she hasn't or else we might have already passed her," Gray said. I finished my bowl of food and placed it in the sink and left the room.

"Where are you going Nix," Zo asked as I headed for the front door.

"Just out for a walk," I replied in a monotone voice.

"I could use a walk too," Gray said getting to his feet and walking towards me. "Hope it's okay if I walk with you," Gray said.

"Just don't get lost," I replied opening the door. The sun was getting ready to set, but it was still warm despite that. Together we walked down the street in silence, it was a nice kind of silence though, one that comforted me.

"So you're name is Nix," Gray said as we walked.

"Yea," I replied sticking my hands in my pockets.

"You don't have to lie to me," Gray said.

"What do you mean," I said looking at him. We were by the park that had a river flowing through it, a place I visited often since I've moved here. I started to walk towards the river, Gray not far behind me.

"The others might not see it, but I do," Gray said.

"See what exactly," I said sternly anger in my eyes. This must have caught Gray off guard because he cringed a little. We continued to walk towards the river, and once we got there I sat on the ground and watched the river go by.

"I see an old friend," Gray said.

"And who's your old friend exactly," I questioned looking at him with my now hardened eyes from the long days of training.

"Lucy Heartfilia," he said softly.

"I'm not Lucy," I said returning my gaze to the river.

"No, not anymore, but you were once Lucy," Gray said looking out at the river. "Do you have any idea how hurt we were to see you leave us," Gray said looking back towards me. I didn't say anything.

"Natsu was heartbroken to see his good friend disappear," Gray said.

"Shut up," I said.

"You need to hear this," Gray said angrily.

"No I don't," I yelled at him, getting to my feet. "I don't need to hear about how you lost your friend," I said angrily. Gray got to his feet and walked towards me. His eyes were soft, and I could see tears trying to make their way up.

"Please," Gray said. "Don't hide from us any longer," a tear escaped and streamed down his face.

"I'm not Lucy, I never was Lucy, you are mistaken," I said again. My mask was cracking, and I could feel it, but no I had to keep it, to protect them.

"Please, I know it's you," Gray said another tear falling.

"I don't even use magic," I said, trying desperately to not blow my cover.

"Because you don't have your keys," Gray pleaded, he was determined to get me to reveal myself, and that itself was hurting the most.

"I never owned any keys, please, just stop this," I said softly. Gray then leaned forward and gave me a big hug, his head was in my shoulder.

"Please, you have no idea how it felt," Gray said as he cried into my shoulder. If my mask was to break it was at the moment, when he was crying into my shoulder, but it didn't. Maybe what I said was true, I was never Lucy, at least in the state I'm in now. I've been Nix for so long, been training to not use magic for so long.

I must finally act the part I was trying to look, because Gray leaned back, and looked at my face more closely, his tears stopped. "I'm terribly sorry, I was mistaken, you, just look like her," Gray said wiping the tears away from his eyes.

"It's, it's okay," I said turning to walk away from the river.

"Could we never talk about this," Gray asked. I didn't respond, I just kept walking, shoving my hands into my pockets. The rest of the walk back was in silence, neither of us caring to talk, or not wanting to talk after what happened.

I opened the door back into the gym, to see Erza and Natsu fighting each other. When the door clicked shut their attention turned to me. "You," Natsu pointed at me. "I hear you're a good fighter," Natsu said cracking a smile.

"What about it," I said walking past the ring where the two fought.

"We want to fight you," Erza said stepping to the side of the ring.

"I'll fight you tomorrow. My training for today is over, and I could use some sleep," I said walking into the living quarters. I went into my room, and saw two extra beds there, Wendy was sitting on one looking around.

"Oh, sorry, do you want to go to sleep," Wendy started when she noticed me.

"You're fine, just don't bother me," I said walking to the bed on the far side of the room and falling onto it. I didn't bother pulling the blankets over me, or changing, that could lead to some, questions about my hand.

Wendy did as I asked and didn't bother me, or talk for that matter, she stayed quiet out of respect so I could get some sleep, but I couldn't sleep. I felt tired, but for some reason there was something keeping me from the sleep I so desperately wanted. It must have been for the fact all my old friends were here.

There could have been no other reason for it, I mean, any other night I would be right out, and wake up to the smell of breakfast. Several hours of unrest, I heard the door slowly open, and gently click. Erza must've just come in.

"Can't sleep," she asked towards me. I at first tried to ignore her, thinking that if I didn't answer then she would think I actually was a sleep. "Ignoring me isn't sleeping," Erza said after several quiet moment.

"No, I can't sleep," I replied quietly, not wanting to wake a possibly sleeping Wendy.

"Is it because there are strange people in your home," Erza asked, quieting her voice as well, I heard her crawl into the bed next to mine.

"Might be," I answered turning to look up at the ceiling.

"I haven't slept well for a long time," she said, from what I could tell she must have been looking at the ceiling too, from the sound of her voice.

"Why's that," I asked before I could stop myself.

"I don't know, could be for several reasons. Could be because of the horrors I've faced on all my jobs, or possibly the fear of losing people I care for, or not being able to find them," Erza said, her voice getting softer with sadness that seeped out of her words.

"This Lucy, you all really care about her don't you," I said.

"She, she was something different to the guild, a good friend, loved by everyone. She brought light to our guild," Erza said. I remembered all the times I was at the guild, I never thought much of it since I left, did I really bring light to Fairy Tail.

"Did she like it there," I asked, already knowing the answer.

"From what we could tell she loved it, which makes it harder to think why she would leave, after everything she's been through with us," Erza said, her voice becoming more distant from me.

"I hope you find Lucy," I said, turning to my side, feeling sleep starting to roll over me.

"As do I," Erza replied before I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

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**Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Next week's update the action will start picking up, and I'm sure you guys should like the fight scene.**

**I also want to say thanks to all the new followers and favorites we've gotten!**

**You guys are proof that I don't suck at writing!**

**I also want to thanks those who left a review on the last few chapters.**

**Nyvir- The story possibly isn't as long as it could be, but I'm happy with the product which is more than I could say for my last story.**

**Guest- There are certainly more surprises coming up in the next few chapter.**

**Until next time, Nerdz out.**


	4. Natsu's Fight

"Hey, wake up," a male's voice said poking me in the arm. I opened my eyes to see Natsu standing in front of my bed.

"What the hell," I almost shouted shooting up from my bed.

"What," Natsu asked with a curious look on his face. All I could do was shake my head and leave the room with a change of clothes and walked into the bathroom. I quickly got into the shower, and washed all the sweat and grime from the previous day off. While the hot water pounded on my back I looked at my right hand, more specifically the pink symbol on it.

I can't say how many times I've tried to scrub it off with soap and water with no luck. After several minutes of looking at my hand I turned the water off and got myself dry, then put on the clothes I brought in with me. A dark blue t-shirt, black jeans, and some black hand wraps. I gave my hair a quick finger comb then walked out.

"Wanna fight now," Natsu asked as soon as I left the bathroom.

"Depends," I said.

"On what".

"Are you okay with getting your ass handed to you," I said in a serious tone.

"You think you're going to beat me," Natsu roared in anger.

"Yea, I think I have a pretty good chance of beating you," I replied.

"You're on," he said holding up his fist towards me.

"Meet you in the ring," I said walking into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water and a few granola bars. Sure enough when I walked into the gym, Natsu was waiting in the ring.

"You said you could beat him," Zo asked when she saw me enter the room.

"I said I felt pretty good about beating him, yea," I replied climbing into the ring, the mat floor bounced a little under my feet, or was it the bounce in my step.

"Well, don't be disappointed if you're beaten," Zo said to no one in particular. "Fight starts on my mark," Zo said climbing into the ring holding her hand up. Several quiet moments passed where the air was filling with tension. "Fight," Zo said throwing her hand down. She quickly scrambled to get out of the ring before I threw my first punch. At first I didn't throw anything, just moved around the ring, getting used to the way Natsu moved around.

"Come on fight," one of the men who took a break from training yelled at us. That moment Natsu thrusted forward with a punch. To most people it might have seemed pretty fast, but in my eyes it was kinda slow. I moved out of the way and let Natsu run into the side of the ring.

"What the," Natsu said turning his head to face me. I simply bounced on my feet waiting for his next move, his jaw clenched as he reared back to get a running start for his next attack. Another punch was sent my way, this time I just moved slightly out of the way, but even that still sent Natsu barreling into the side of the ring.

"She's toying with you Natsu, come on," Erza shouted. Natsu quickly regained his balance, and a smile spread across his face.

"Okay, no more holding back," Natsu said as he lunged forward with a kick, I easily blocked the kick, but saw a punch coming as soon as he retracted his foot. He seemed a bit faster now, I was only barely able to block his punch. Even though I was almost hit it also gave me an opening to land my first attack.

I quickly twisted my body and threw a punch that went straight to Natsu's stomach. It wasn't full force, but it was enough to send Natsu back a few steps. I quickly followed up with a sweep to his leg, that when mixed with his momentum sent him to the ground.

I dropped my knees to the ground and threw another punch to Natsu's stomach. As soon as my punch landed I pushed myself back up and took a few steps back giving Natsu some room to get back to his feet. Natsu let out a groan, but slowly got back to his feet.

"Zo wasn't lying, you are a good fighter," Natsu said one he was standing again. Unless Zo wanted to say something about my actual skills, Natsu had little to no knowledge how good I actually am when it came to fighting.

Natsu seemed to wait for several moment, seeing if I would make a move, but when I didn't he decided he should start his attack. I blocked his first two punches by ducking under them, and grabbed the leg closest to me. All at once I stood up, pulling Natsu's leg up with me, and pushing his chest out. This made him fall again, this time making a louder thud than before.

Natsu let out a small groan, then tapped the floor of the ring, showing he doesn't want to fight anymore. I turned away from Natsu and got out of the ring, several of the regulars were over by Natsu.

"You're lucky," I heard one of them say. In their eyes Natsu was lucky, most people who fight me don't usually come out of the ring being thrown at least four or five more times than I threw Natsu. I went over to the bench where my bottle of water and granola bars were and took a seat.

I opened the water and took a small sip from it. I felt the sweat starting to form on my forehead. I was a little surprised Natsu gave in so quickly, I was hoping I would actually fight him after all this time.

"Hey," someone said as I was munching on a granola bar. I turned to see Erza walking towards me. "If you're up for it would you like to spar me," she asked. I then noticed she wasn't wearing her usual armor, or casual clothes, but gym shorts and a tank top.

"Uh," I said finishing the bar.

"I could tell you were holding back still with Natsu," Erza added. "With me I won't hold back at all and I will expect you to do the same," I never thought I would fight Erza hand to hand, or ever for that matter.

"Uh, not today, would you still want to fight me tomorrow," I asked.

"If you're still willing to fight me, I'll fight you whenever," Erza said with a smile. I gave a slight nod to show I was looking forward to our upcoming match.

"I suggest you start warming up, if you don't want me to hold back," I said getting to my feet. Erza gave a slight nod in return and walked away. "Zo I'm going for my run," I called out to Zo who was helping Natsu.

"Be back before dinner," Zo called back a I pulled on my running shoes. In a way Zo became like a mother to me the way she took care of me for the last few months, though I do have more freedom than I would if I was in my mother's care. I jogged out of the building and down the street full of merchants.

As I ran by people waved to me, I was known to run around at this time almost everyday, so to most I was like a regular customer. Most merchants would even offer me water if it was hot out, today however was rather cool. Usually I ran straight down the street till I reached the far park entrance and then on the run back run by the river. Today however I decided to be different and to start off running down by the river.

The sun was shimmering off the river water, which made the scenery nicer that it usually seemed at night. Then the hairs on my neck stood up, if there was a smell that was associated with magic, I smelled it. I slowed down, and looked behind me. At first I didn't see anything, but just as I was about to start running again I saw it.

Long orange hair, the shine from glasses, and a black suit, going behind a tree.

* * *

**Cliffhanger!**

**I'm sure some of you know who it is, but I want to see your guesses anyway.**

**Sorry for the late update today, had no phone reception for most of it and didn't have time in the morning to update.**

**Next week may have a later update as well depending on what is going on.**

**Anyways I want to again thank all of you who show your support for this story.**

**You guys are awesome!**

**Until next time Nerdz out**


	5. Another Friend, Another Fight

When I got back to the house dinner was just getting finished. Zo could tell when I walked into the dining room that I was a little shaken up. This wouldn't have been the only time I thought I saw one of my old spirits, right after I left the guild it was like I saw them all over the place. I suppose what really shook me up was the fact I didn't see anything like that for a couple of weeks.

Luckily Zo didn't ask me about it, she just handed me a bowl filled with noodles and broth. "You were almost late," she said.

"But I wasn't," I replied taking a seat next at the table. I waited for several minutes to let everyone get their food, but once everyone sat down I started to dig in. I took breaks from the food every once in a while to nod, or say yes or no depending on the situation. About half way through the meal there was a knock at the front door.

"Is that the man you were telling me about," Zo asked.

"Should be, he said after he explored for a bit he would come over here," Gray replied. Were they talking about Happy, I mean of all the people that weren't here I was surprised Happy wasn't here.

"I'll go get the door," Zo said getting up from her seat and walked towards the front door. Several minutes later Zo and another figure walked back into the room. I looked up to see the same orange hair I saw earlier, and the glasses, the only thing different was that he wasn't wearing a suit.

"Loke," Gray said getting up to give the man a handshake.

"Sorry I'm late, Virgo was getting this ready," Loke said pulling out a small handle, I recognized it to be Fleuve d'etoiles, the whip I used before I left the guild.

"Did Virgo add a special ability to it or something," Erza asked.

"No just making sure it still worked after so long of not being in use," Loke replied putting the whip away.

"Now, will you begin your search for your friend tomorrow, or will you still be settling in," Zo asked.

"I was hoping I could fight Nix tomorrow, but we could do that later," Erza said.

"Okay, good, because your friend might have be here and be moving on tomorrow," Zo said giving a slight nod. "Nix, I want you to go with them to help them search for their friend".

"Why," I asked.

"Because you can help them get around the city," Zo replied giving me a slight glare.

"Fine," I replied placing my bowl in the sink. I glanced at the time, it was still relatively early. "Erza, if you want to fight me we could do it right now," I offered.

"Are you sure," Erza asked.

"Yea," I replied walking into the gym area. Erza followed me into the ring, and used her magic to change into a t-shirt and gym shorts. "No holding back," I asked.

"No holding back," Erza replied. Zo this time didn't even need to say when to fight, we just started. Erza's was a lot faster when compared to Natsu. So fast that at first I thought I wouldn't be able to block as well as I did before. But slowly I adjusted to her fighting style.

After a few minutes of only letting Erza attack me she settled down for a second. "I thought you wouldn't hold back," she asked.

"Who said patience was a part of holding back," I replied. Erza then came at me again with another series of punches, however, unlike the last time she didn't get past the first one. I blocked the first punch, and returned a kick to the side of the leg which cause Erza to fall to a knee, then followed up with a punch to the side of the head.

My punch however, didn't connect the way it should have, instead she managed to block the punch at the last second, and used my momentum to throw me onto the ground. I let out a soft groan, and slowly got to my feet only to get kicked in the face.

I was half tempted to tap, but I've taken more of a beating than this. I rolled back onto my feet and started my charge of attacks. Two punches followed up with a kick to the legs, a sweep, and finally another punch to her face. For a second I thought I might have went too far, but the slowly Erza rose back to her feet, a smile on her face. "You really are quite the fighter," she stated. Sweat was starting to form on my brow as I launched another string of attacks. I could tell Erza was starting to slow down, her blocks only being partially effective against my strikes. I stood back for a moment and bounced around the ring, trying to catch my breath.

I was half surprised to feel a smile on my face. My feet bounced off the ground as I moved side to side trying to plot my next attack. Patiently I moved around the ring, my breath becoming even again. Erza, growing more impatient, threw a punch towards me giving my the opening I needed to finish the fight. I moved to the outside of the punch, kicked Erza in the back, and stepped forward into a final punch to the side of the head.

Just as quickly as I was in for the attack I was back on the edge of the ring. For a second I thought Erza was going to attack again, but she lowered her hands. "I'm done," she said a smile still on her face. I nodded and got out of the ring, sweat was clinging on to my forehead.

"That was a good fight," Loke said looking at me with curious eyes.

"Thanks," I said walking into the living quarters of the house. Erza followed me back, her breath still heavy and uneven.

"Do you think I would be able to get a shower in before it gets too late," Erza asked.

"If you take one now," I said pointing towards the bathroom. Erza nodded and walked into the bathroom. I grabbed a cold bottle of water and chugged it down.

"Can't believe you held back so much after saying you wouldn't," Zo said walking in.

"Didn't want to hurt our guests," I simply replied.

"Sure, that was it," Zo said with a smirk. "You just hurt everyone else that comes into the gym that wants to fight you".

"I have a reputation for being a good fighter, everyone in town know how good I am, these people, they never been here before, they don't know," I said getting up.

"Well, I suppose you're right, and please tell me you'll take a shower tonight, you're all sweaty," Zo said getting up a smirk on her face.

"I will," I said walking into my room that was now occupied with two other people.

"Hi Nix," Wendy said when I walked in, only to reply with a nod. I walked over to the small dresser in the room and grabbed some clothes. "Hey Nix," Wendy asked.

"Hmm," I answered as I searched for a pair of sweats to sleep in.

"You don't know much about the person we're looking for do you," Wendy said. I could tell where this was going, so I went along.

"No," I replied picking up a pair of sweats that were faded from use.

"Well, her name is Lucy," Wendy said as I turned to face the blue haired girl, and sat on the bed. "She's really nice, and she uses Celestial Magic. That man who came in during dinner, he's on of her spirits," and Wendy went on about me, the old me I should say. Quietly I sat there and listened about how Wendy looked up to me, and how hurt everyone was when they discovered I left. Again, if my mask was to break it was at this moment, yet it didn't.

As Wendy finished her story Erza walked into the room with wet hair and pajamas on. "If you excuse me, I need to take a shower," I said getting up from my bed and walked down the hall to the bathroom. After locking the door I quickly undressed and got into the shower. Unlike this morning I had cold water beating down on my back.

I let the coldness seep into my skin and touch the sore bones that ached from the long day. I closed my eyes, and envisioned the day I decided to leave. The way everything seemed normal, and fine. The way everyone in the guildhall was laughing and having a good time like usual. Then it all changed when Cana walked through the guild doors. With Levy over her shoulder, beaten to shit.

Gajeel was the first one on the scene, picking Levy up and rushing her over to the nearest table. Then Jet and Droy were there, holding her hands, sobbing beyond belief. The only other time I've ever seen Levy hurt so bad was when Gajeel attacked them before the guild war we had with Phantom Lord. I was nearby, but probably not as close as I should have been.

"Where did you find her," Gajeel growled to Cana who was standing next to the table Levy laid on.

"On the side of the street, she was unconscious when I found her," Cana replied. Natsu, who was standing in front of me, moved to the side to let me through, to be at Levy's side. But instead I just stood there and looked on at my best friend's body. I clenched my fists and fought off the feeling to run out of the guild.

Levy was bleeding from her forehead, several cuts were also on her cheek. Her hands, they were purple and black, like they were broken, they probably were. Her left eye was swollen but not yet purple like it would be if it was a black eye.

"God Dammit, Someone Get Makarov," Gajeel roared in anger. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mirajane run up the stairs that lead to Master Makarov's office. Only seconds later Makarov and Mirajane returned both of them holding a worried look on their faces.

"What happened," Makarov asked, his voice small, silent tears fell from his face.

"I… I don't know," Cana replied, her voice just as soft if not softer than Makarov's. They didn't know what happened but at that moment I knew it was my fault. It was my fault Levy was hurt, my fault my family was hurt. As soon as I got the chance to I slipped out of the guild with no one noticing me.

I rushed home, and grabbed all the money I had. It was at that moment I decided that I needed to disappear, to get as far away from Fairy Tail as possible, to get away from those I care so much for before someone else gets hurt. For a second I thought about taking my celestial keys with me, but then thought against it. Taking the keys could be a way to track me, same with the whip, so I left both of them there, on my table.

I was brought back to reality by the banging on the door. "Hey Nix, you alright in there," Zo called from the other side of the door.

"I'm fine," I replied, my voice being just loud enough to be heard over the loud water. After that I quickly finished cleaning myself and got out of the shower. I took the black towel that was hidden beneath the sink and dried myself off. I quickly put on my sweats and the t-shirt I brought in with me, and draped the black towel over my short wet hair and looked at myself in the mirror, this time more in depth than I had that morning.

I could see the bags under my eyes from the many sleepless nights I've had. My cheeks were thinner than they were six months ago. My eyes, they might have been the thing that changed the most, my once soft brown eyes were now hardened, like someone who has gone through hell and back.

I glanced down at the granite sink counter top, and looked at the pink guild insignia. I shook my head slightly and grabbed the back wrap and wrapped my hands, making the insignia along with my other hand injuries hidden. I took the towel off of my head and threw it into the hamper and walked out of the bathroom.

Most of the lights were dimmed in the living quarters, some people were however still in the gym area, but not many. I could see Zo standing there, watching one of her student fighting with one of the trainers. Most nights I would have went out there and watched, but tonight was different. I found myself yearning to be by the sides of those whom I once called friends.

I glanced at my room door and slowly turned the knob and walked into the almost pitch dark room, I was half expecting Erza and Wendy to be asleep but by the way they were breathing I assumed they were still awake, only acting to be asleep. I slunk over to my bed, and sat on the side of my bed. Minutes passed where I just sat there quietly, listening to the outside world, and listening to the sounds of the house.

Once both the outside and inside sounds seemed to have calmed down I actually laid down and pulled the soft blanket over my body, and drifted off into sleep.

* * *

**Hey everyone, I'm back.**

**Sorry for missing last week's update, I was extremely busy.**

**I again want to thank everyone who has given their support for this story even though I'm sure the grammar is at some points horrible.**

**So now we're getting some background as to why Lucy, or um... Nix left Fairy Tail.**

**Anyway I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter.**

**Until next time, Nerdz out.**


	6. The Search Begins

"They have to know, they're our friends," the female said. Her back was turned to me, she had long blonde hair that draped down over her shoulders. She was wearing a white vest like shirt, and a blue skirt, paired with black boots.

"I don't have friends," I replied, shoving my hands into my pockets.

"Just because you're Nix doesn't mean you stopped having friends," the female said.

"Like you have friends," I replied, turning my head to the side.

"Stop pretending to be something you're not, they need us," the female said, her back still faced to me.

"Who ever said I was pretending, maybe this is who I am now," I said starting to get annoyed.

"Maybe, but did you ever stop thinking about them," the female asked.

"What does it matter if I thought of them or not," I almost shouted.

"You don't have to lie to yourself," the female said turning to face me. Her big gleaming brown eyes that didn't have bags under them. It was me, or the old me at least, Lucy Heartfilia.

"Hey, you okay Nix," a voice said shaking my body awake. Slowly I opened my eyes to see Erza standing over me, her eyes filled with concern.

"I'm fine," I replied lightly pushing her hand off of me.

"Okay, you were just, you were talking in your sleep, it sounded like you were having a nightmare," Erza said, concern still in her eyes.

"Just a nightmare," I said getting out of bed, bits of the sun's rays shone in through the window. I grabbed my clothes for the day and went into the bathroom. I quickly brushed my teeth and combed my hair. I changed out of my pajamas, and put on some new clean wraps on my hands. When I walked back out of the bathroom I saw a small group of people standing at the end of the hall towards the kitchen. I could tell it was Natsu and them standing down there, waiting for me.

"Ah, you're finally up Nix," Zo said when I walked into the kitchen. "I assume you'll all be heading out now," Zo asked glancing at me.

"If they are ready sure," I answered looking at the faces of those who were once my friends. Each of them gave a slight nod, which I returned after several silent moments. "Then let's go," I said leading the way out of the door.

When we got outside I could tell it was around 10, maybe 11 o'clock. "Let's not waste anytime," Erza said stepping up to my side. I gave a slight nod and looked towards the group that stood around me, the team I used to laugh with.

"Where would Lucy be," I asked.

"Hotel possibly," Natsu said lifting his nose to the air, trying to search for what was once my scent. I nodded and started walking towards the hotel I stayed in when I first arrived in this town, quietly they followed me. Several minutes of silent walking passed when we arrived at the hotel.

"This is the only hotel in town," I said looking at the tall building.

"She was here," Natsu said stepping forward, his nose in the air like it was before.

"Are you sure Natsu," Erza asked urgently looking at Natsu for reassurance.

"Yea, it's faint, but I can still smell her," Natsu said his eyes then searching the surrounding area for some clue. I search as well, even though I knew that surely all that once belonged to me was gone, but then my eyes caught a portion of a blue blouse I wore when I left.

Slowly I walked up to the piece of the shirt, and looked at the small animal that layed on it. A small dog moaned as I approached it, I created a soft smile and knelt down next to it. "It's okay," I said softly slowly reaching my hand out. The small dog showed its teeth, but then quickly hid them. I placed my hand on the small head and gave it a slight rub.

"Can I see that," I asked softly, pulling only slightly on the piece of cloth that was almost too small for the small dog to fit on. Without a word the dog stood up, and got off the piece of cloth, and looked at me. "Thank you," I replied giving the dog another head petting. The small brown pup gave a small bark then licked the hand that was closest to it.

I stood up and returned to Natsu who was now looking around the building. "Here," I said jestering the piece of cloth to him. He looked at it slightly confused, then sniffed it.

"How did you know it was her's," he asked glancing up at me.

"Lucky guess I suppose," I answered looking into his onyx eyes.

"Thanks, I don't smell her anywhere else, so she must still be in town," Natsu said turning to Gray and Erza who were standing near by. The look in their eyes were both of relief and of distress.

"How will we find her," Wendy asked looking towards Natsu.

"I don't know," Natsu said rubbing the back of his head. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a darkened figure run into the alley nearby. When I looked over, the figure ducked back behind cover.

"Maybe I can get some of the other spirits to help search for Luce," Loke said only to get Natsu to shake his head in return.

"You guys are too easy to notice, if Lucy is hiding from us then we don't want her to see Taurus walking around," Gray said gently. "Come on, we should head back, maybe Zo has some idea where we could look," Gray added walking away from the hotel. Silently I followed the group, trailing behind only slightly.

Slowly I started to trail behind more and more, until I came to a stop. I glanced around me to see a tattoo shop by me. I walked towards the window and looked inside, there was only one person inside. "Hey, I'll catch up later, there's something I need to do," I called to the group of people who were getting farther and farther away from me.

I looked back towards the glass, the man inside looked up and smiled at me like he always did when I walked in. I clasped my hand around the door handle and slowly opened the door.

* * *

**Hey everyone welcome back, hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**Like always I want to thank those of you who favorite and follow!**

**Now I want to see what you guys think will happen in the next chapter, and it's not just what it seems to be.**

**Until next time Nerdz out.**


	7. A Tattoo and a Talk

"Evening Nix," the man behind the counter said.

"Evening," I replied looking around the room I knew too well.

"So have you come just to talk or are you ready this time," he asked looking towards me. I paused for a moment and thought about what this meant. Lucy Heartfilia would never get a tattoo in her life, but am I still Lucy. Nix would have multiple tattoos, each of them being an extension of her story.

"Show me what you got Theo," I said to the man who sat behind the counter. His dark brown hair had a stripe bright green that went with his tattooed arms.

"Well," Theo said pulling up a large book of tatoos from under the table. "What would you like," he asked.

"What would you suggest for someone like me," I asked looking through the book.

"Well, I assume you don't want something like a flower, maybe something more celtic or tribal of style," Theo said taking the book from me and switching it out with a much smaller one. "Then depending on where you want the tattoo I could give better suggestions," Theo said leaning back in his chair letting me look through the book of tattoos he suggested. I looked through the book, analyzing each of the pictures.

"I might add that if you want multiple tattoos I would only be able to get one done if you choose to have it done the classic way," Theo added when my eyes fell onto a page full of tribal styled wings. Each one was different, wings that were spread out, wings that were folded in. Each of them had a name that went along with it.

My eyes were quickly attracted to a pair of folded wings, the feathers, which were just lines that converged into one point, went in different directions, but stayed in the parameters of the wing itself. The name that came with the pair of wings was Guardian. My finger traced the edge of the wings, I found a sort of elegance to it that was matched with the feeling protection.

"Ahh, do you like that one, personally I like that one best," Theo said a smile on his face as he leaned forward.

"Yea, yea, I," I tried to say, still tracing my hand over the wings.

"I take it you want that one," Theo said getting up from his seat.

"Yea," I managed to get out.

"Follow me this way then," he said leading my to and open chair. "Where would you like it," Theo asked.

"On my back," I replied.

"And would you like the no pain magical one, or the real deal," Theo asked looking over his shoulder as he got a template of the wings to a size that would fit me.

"Would you be able to heal it after," I asked.

"Of course, someone of your nature shouldn't be held back from the pain of a mere tattoo, and they always seem more satisfying to talk about," Theo said.

"Real deal then," I said pulling up my shirt, and unclipping the back of my bra to reveal a clean slate for Theo to work on.

"Good to hear," Theo said pulling down a needle to use. I felt a cold cloth of my back causing me to take a sharp breath in. "Relax, just a wipe to make sure you don't like die from a random infection on your back," Theo said with a slight laugh. Then I heard the buzzing of the needle start. "I won't lie, this might hurt a bit," Theo said with a hint of caution in his voice.

"I can handle it," I answered, a few seconds later I felt the needle poking into my skin. At first it did hurt a bit, but slowly it went away as my body adjusted to the pain.

"So Zo took you in right," Theo asked as he worked on my back.

"Yea," I answered.

"You should feel special, for the past 5 years that I've lived here you're the first person Zo has taken in and kept," Theo said happily.

"What do you mean by kept," I asked.

"Well, some of the people she has let in left shortly after, none of them have stayed as long as you have since, well me," Theo said working his way down my back.

"Zo took you in," I said slightly shocked, I might have been in here four or five times since I first moved here, and never did Theo say anything about this.

"Yea, I was, I was running from something when I came here," Theo said. "Zo has a way of, finding those who actually need help, if you understand what I mean," Theo added.

"Yea, I understand," I replied.

"I'm going to guess she gave you the whole you're gonna get yourself killed speech," Theo asked.

"Yea, in a sense," I said with a slight laugh.

"She gave me the same thing," Theo said laughing a little too.

"If I may ask, what were you running from," I said softly.

"The fear of my friends getting hurt," Theo said solemnly. "In the end running, and hiding didn't help, was a shame," Theo added, his voice getting sadder.

"What happened," I asked before I could stop myself.

"I ended up not being able to protect those who I was trying to protect, and died because I thought continuing on the path I was on was the best thing for them," Theo said.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said trying the best I could to comfort him.

"Don't be, I don't tend to linger on something like that, they would have wanted me to live on. Like I am now," Theo said happily again. "But Nix, I do pass on this piece of information, if the lives of your friends are on the line, do whatever it takes to keep them alive," Theo said.

"Thanks for the advice," I said. The rest of the time Theo remained mostly silent, and I the same. Hours went by, the needle's buzzing the only thing to be heard.

"Well," Theo said sitting back, clicking the needle off. "I think it's done," Theo said happily. Theo grabbed a mirror and held it up so then I could see the reflection of the tattoo in the mirror that was in front of me.

"Looks done," I said plainly.

"Great, should only take about 10, maybe 15 minutes to heal with some magic," Theo said creating a magic circle over my back. Instantly I felt my back begin to relax as the magic did it's work.

"How much does it cost," I asked as Theo moved away, letting his magic go on without him.

"You don't have to pay me," Theo said happily.

"Are you sure," I asked.

"Yea, I know you don't have a lot of money, and Zo, well whoever she takes in are just protecting their friends," Theo replied. "And if you want some more, I'll be more than happy to give them to you for free," Theo added.

"Thank you," I said softly. The time it took for the magic to heal my back went by quickly, the once numbed, and sore back was fine now. I hooked my bra and pulled my shirt back down and stood up.

"Remember what I said about my friends, I don't want the same thing to happen to you, Nix," Theo said softly as I was about to leave.

"I will, thank you," I replied leaving the tattoo parlor. It was dark outside, the street lamps illuminating the night. No doubt Zo will be questioning me on where I was when I got back. I then started my long walk back to the house in the dark.

* * *

**Sorry for missing another update.**

**But from what I can tell there shouldn't be any more missed updates until the end of the story.**

**Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and the next few will be, interesting to say the least.**

**Until next time Nerdz out.**


	8. The Story Told in Tattoos

When I finally got back I went straight to bed, and quickly was covered in the blanket of sleep.

I stood there alone, the other me was gone. Darkness surrounded me, but I wasn't scared, I almost felt safe in this darkness. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, the cool air filled my lungs. I let out a small chuckle.

"Who would of thought," I said softly to myself. "That I would have become like this," I added.

"I certainly didn't," a familiar voice said. I quickly turned to see a small man standing there.

"Makarov," I asked.

"No, not Makarov, but seeing how you wouldn't listen to yourself, I was chosen to talk some sense into you, my child," the Makarov look alike said.

"Why are you so determine, to make me tell my friends," I asked.

"Ah, you finally admit they are you friends," Makarov said with a little laugh.

"That didn't answer my question," I almost growled.

"Because, you are still being searched for by both your friends and your enemies, if your friends knew, they could help you," he said.

"Or it could get them killed," I retorted.

"It could, but, you know how they are," Makarov said with a laugh.

"They won't know period, I did all of this for their protection, I will continue to hide for their pro-".

"They will get killed whether you hide or not at the moment," Makarov roared, his body becoming bigger like it would in real life when he used his magic. "Our enemy knows they are your friends, and that hurting them will draw you out," Makarov said.

"We don't even know they are here," I shouted in return.

"But you've seen them," Makarov shouted. "And you know it," he said his voice getting softer.

"I won't let them get hurt," I said shaking.

"I know you won't," Makarov said as he returned to his regular size, his voice reminding so much of the real Makarov.

"But how will I fight them, I don't have my keys, and my strength isn't enough," I said softly.

"Loke has your keys, when the time comes, I trust you know what to do," the Makarov look alike said before fading away, once again leaving me in the dark.

"How can you be so sure," I asked.

"Because, you have the determination of a Fairy Tail wizard," Makarov's voice said, fading away. This time however, I was truly wondering if it was my mind, or Makarov himself who said it.

My eyes fluttered open to be greeted with a bright light shining in my eyes. I groaned and sat up in my bed, I glanced over to see Erza and Wendy were still sound asleep causing me to smile. I quickly got ready for the day, despite it still being dark outside, and headed for the door.

"You're up early," Zo said as I grabbed my hoodie.

"Thought I would go for an early run before the others got up," I answered, pulling my hoodie over my head.

"Have fun," Zo said sipping her coffee as I opened the door and started to jog down the street. After several minutes of running I found myself in front of Theo's tattoo parlor. I glanced inside to see if Theo was there yet, only to see two men standing near Theo. The hairs on my neck stood up, and I felt the urge to keep running, but despite that I walked into the parlor.

"I don't know where she is," Theo said in a hushed voice.

"Very well, I guess we'll just have to go with plan B," one of the men said turning to walk out, his eyes however fell onto me. "Nix," he said as he brushed past me. I waited for the two men to leave before stepping further into the shop.

"What was that about," I asked after several silent minutes.

"They were looking for someone," Theo said with a sigh. "So what brings you back so soon," Theo asked, a smile appearing on his face.

"I was hoping to get some more tattoos," I answered simply.

"Well that was fast," Theo said with a chuckle. "What, you have a story that needs to be told as soon as possible," Theo added as he continued to laugh.

"You could say that," I said laughing a little too. Theo was already pulling out the book of celtic tattoos and handed it to me.

"What is your story then," Theo asked as I opened the book to a page of arm tattoos that would extend from my shoulder the the mid section of my forearm. Most of the tattoo designs had a strong sense to it but didn't quite fit with what I was wanting. However there were these two tattoo designs that were able completely different but at the same time went perfectly together.

The lines of one, the Fighter, it was called, was sharp, direct, and would wrap around my entire bicep. The second one on the other hand, the Protected, was still sharp, but curved here and there with points that intertwined with itself.

"These two," I said pointing towards the Fighter and the Protected.

"Interesting choice," Theo said walking back to the area I was at only hours ago. I followed him, and sat in the chair that faced the mirror. "So what arm gets which," Theo asked.

"Left gets the fighter, right gets the protected," I said taking off my hoodie and rolling up the sleeves on my t-shirt.

"Does your left arm hit harder than your right," Theo said laughing from the joke he made.

"If only it was that simple," I replied laughing as well. Theo quickly got to work on my left arm.

"So the story behind your tattoos," Theo asked when he was about half way done with my left arm.

"Well, at one point I was always protected, then I became a fighter, and now I'm a protector," I said putting the last 6 months into a single sentence.

"That's what I thought," Theo said with a smile.

"Theo, if I may, what was hunting you when you moved here," I asked.

"Honestly I don't know," Theo replied. "Just that they wanted my power, and I refused to give it to them," Theo added.

"What was the power they were wanting."

"My celestial magic, I wasn't all that well known, but I was strong, and that's what they needed," Theo said, his voice becoming soft. "Eventually, after they killed my friends, they moved on to another celestial mage, one more well known," Theo added.

"Then she disappeared," I asked.

"Yea, her friends have been searching for her since," Theo said as he started working on my right arm.

"The people I'm helping," I said, looking towards the floor.

"Yea, that's what those men were talking to me about earlier, if I saw her," Theo said. "They know she's here thanks to the dragon slayer saying she was, but since they don't know where, or who she is right now, I'm guessing plan B involves drawing her out," Theo added.

My body went tense, Theo smiled for a second. "Don't worry, I'm almost done," Theo said. The next couple minutes went by quickly, the tattoos must not have been very hard to make, or heal seeing how it only took maybe 10 minutes for him to finish before I was pulling on my hoodie and heading out the door.

"Remember my advice Nix," I heard Theo call out behind me. For some reason I had a burning feeling in my chest, like I was about to put all my training to the test in the next couple of days. I quickly ran down the street, my breathing was surprisingly even for my slight panic.

"Nix," I heard someone say softly. I slowed my pace to a stop and looked around. "Overhere," the same small voice said. My ears located where the sound originated from and quickly turned to face a beaten up Erza.

"Shit," I muttered to myself rushing over to her. She looked worse than Levy did when Cana carried her into the guild.

* * *

**Hey everyone. Once again I didn't update last week, and I'm sorry.**

**I didn't have my laptop with me, and I didn't want to do an update on my phone.**

**But I don't see any reasons until the summer for me to miss any updates from now on.**

**Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and from this point on, everything gets serious.**

**Until next time, Nerdz out.**


	9. Kidnapped Friends

I slung Erza's over my shoulder and carried her back to Zo's. "Nix," Erza said softly into my ear.

"What," I asked as I carried her down the street.

"The people who attacked me," Erza said, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "They said they were only doing this to draw Lucy out," Erza said so softly. My heart dropped, then my instincts kicked in.

"Don't worry," I said sternly. "I won't let them get what they want".

"Where did you learn to be so strong," Erza asked as she limped by my side.

"I asked myself the very same question," I said with a soft laugh, putting a smile on my face to hopefully cheer Erza up a bit.

"You're very strong Nix, emotionally, mentally, and physically, don't let anything let you think differently," Erza said, her face looked towards the ground. Blood dripped from her cheek and her forehead.

I couldn't say anything in return, so I remained silent. "I just wish, I was as strong as I am now back then," I murmured.

"What," Erza asked.

"It doesn't matter, too late now to regret my decisions," I said adjusting Erza so we might go a bit faster.

"No one should regret their decisions, it makes them who they are. They make us stronger, smarter," Erza said wincing slightly when I adjusted her. "For example, I don't regret fighting you when we first met. It taught me I wasn't as good of a fighter as other people, and that I still have a long way to go," Erza said smiling.

"Thanks," I replied. The rest of our walk was spent in silence, when we finally reached Zo's, Natsu and Gray were waiting outside. When their eyes fell onto Erza I almost felt their shock.

"My God are you okay, shit, Natsu go get Wendy," Gray said taking Erza off of my shoulder as he carried her into the building. I stood there for a moment, flashbacks of Levy's injuries hitting me.

"Not again," I growled before walking into the building. Erza was laying on the kitchen table, Gray at her side shouting to Natsu who was haphazardly carrying things into the kitchen.

"What happened," Wendy asked as she ran into the kitchen Loke not far behind her.

"Hell if I know, Nix just walked up with Erza like this," Gray said angrily. Wendy's eyes flew up to mine, I could tell thousand of questions must have been flooding her mind.

"I, found her like this," I said steadily. Gray, Natsu, and Wendy were all in a rush to get things where they needed to be so then they could start working on Erza. Loke however stood there, eyeing me.

"Nix, can we ask you to leave," Wendy said urgently as they started to work. I nodded and walked out of the kitchen into the gym. I could hear Erza's muffled cries of pain, causing me to fight back tears.

"All to get to me," I muttered punching a bag so hard it broke off of the chains that held it to the ceiling.

"You okay," Loke said behind me. I quickly turned to face my old friend.

"Yes," I growled turning to pick up the bag.

"You don't seem okay," Loke said trying to help me pick up the bag.

"I don't need your help," I barked, Loke quickly backed away, letting my pick up the heavy bag by myself.

"Like I said, you don't seem okay," Loke said not taking his eyes off of me.

"Shouldn't you be worrying more about your friend Erza," I said angrily throwing the bag into a pile of other bags I've broken down out of anger.

"She'll be fine, she's in good hands as it is," Loke said taking a seat on the bench.

"What do you want," I asked glaring at him as I walked by.

"You said you found Erza like that, do you have any idea who might have done it, you're the one who's been living here," Loke said.

"I would ask Zo, I haven't been living here for that long".

"But who do you think would have," Loke reiterated, but I remained silent. "You know who did it don't you," Loke said standing.

"I don't know who did it, but, I noticed some men who I've never seen before saying they will have to move on to plan B," I said looking towards the door.

"Do you know what plan B is," Loke asked his eyes screaming for answers.

"No," I said after a long pause. "But I'm guessing it includes more of that," I said pointing towards the door to the kitchen. I could feel my anger returning, and quickly turned to storm off, only to be stopped by Loke who grabbed my shoulder.

"You know what their after don't you," Loke said, his voice trembling slightly. "Please tell me it isn't Lucy, please tell me they aren't hurting us to draw her out," Loke said softly. I broke away from his grip and walked away.

Several hours went by where I sat quietly in the gym area by the door, ready to fight off anyone who enters. Zo from what I heard, was watching the back door as well. Wendy let out a loud sigh and walked out onto the gym floor.

"Thanks for carrying her back," Wendy said taking a seat next to me.

"Don't mention it," I replied leaning forward in my chair.

"No, you have no idea what it's like to see a close friend hurt like that," Wendy said softly. A flash of Levy's injured body entered my mind.

"I suppose not," I lied, my fists clenching at the lie.

"Zo's watching the back door to make sure no one gets in," Wendy said after a long pause of silence.

"That's what I figured," I said closing my eyes slightly.

"I just can't believe, that after all of this, we might finally find Lucy," Wendy said with a sigh of relief.

"What makes you so sure," I asked, curious of the answer I might get in return.

"Well, if she knew what happened to Erza, and that we have been searching for her for so long, she's not the kind of person to stay away when her family is hurt," Wendy said. "Not without some reason at least," Wendy added.

"And if she doesn't want to come back, if she's doing all of this," I said motioning to the area around us. "To keep all of you safe from whatever hurt Erza".

"Well, it isn't working, I hope she can see that," Wendy said almost bitterly. Then a loud bang came from the door. I quickly stood and pushed Wendy behind me. A group of about 5 men wearing black suits walked into the gym. One man however stood out from the rest, he walked in front of the other four and looked around the gym.

"So this is where you live," the man said looking towards me, then at Lucy who was peering around me. "And you have what we want," the man added getting closer to me and Wendy. Gray and Natsu ran into the gym, ready to fight.

"Ice Make," Gray started to shout, and icy aura forming around his hands.

"Not so fast," the man who stood closest to me said, lifting his hand. The icy aura instantly disappeared.

"What the hell," Gray said confused, looking from his hands to the man.

"Roar of the Fire -," Natsu said taking in a large breath. The man moved his hand to face Natsu, and as Natsu was about to breath fire nothing came out. "What just happened," Natsu said infuriated at his failed attack.

"Get them," the man said, letting his men run at Natsu, Gray and I. From what I could tell Natsu and Gray fought as well as they could, but was quickly put down by the men who attacked them. I on the other hand, they didn't attack, which caught me off guard when I dodged the attack and saw no one was coming after me. Then Wendy got grabbed by the man.

"Find the other one, and the keys," the man said his eyes looking towards me.

"You won't get away with this," I growled, I wanted to fight, I wanted to stop them there and then, but I stood still._ It's not time yet my child_, a voice said in my head that sounded like Makarov.

"Oh, but now, we just need one last piece, and with these," he said motioning to the unconscious mages. "She will surely reveal herself," the man said with a wicked grin.

"Boss, found the keys, there was a spirit trying to fight us back, but we got 'em," a oafish like man said walking back into the gym, giggling the gold and silver keys.

"Great, now, what happened to Zo," the man asked looking around.

"She ran out when she saw us," the oafish man replied.

"What a pity," the man said looking back towards me. "Oh well, you look like you could use a little bit of sleep," his hand lifted and a pulse of magic hit me, a wave of tiredness washed over me. The last thing I saw was the man and his grunts carrying out my friends.

* * *

**And dramatic sound effect!**

**It's been a while since I said this but thank you to all of you who support this story you are awesome!**

**The next chapter will be lighter on the action but still pretty good in my opinion.**

**Anyway I hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you all next week.**

**Nerdz out.**


	10. Lucy Nix Heartfilia

**What's this, a non Saturday Update!**

**From the phone I don't like updating on!**

**So extra update this week you're welcome.**

**Before we continue the story it has come to my attention the last chapter might have been confusing towards the end so just to clarify/recap.**

**Natsu, Erza, Gray, and Wendy have been kidnapped. Wendy was the girl peering around Nix NOT LUCY. Sorry for that mistake, and for any others coming up, I didn't catch them when doing my prooreading.**

**Thank you kirby42280 for catching that mistake.**

* * *

"Hey," a monotone voice said. "Hey, it's one thing to be asleep in reality but in a dream," the voice said lightly hitting my cheek.

"Go easy on her, I mean she did just watch her friends get kidnapped," another higher pitched voice said.

"We don't have to be easy with her now, after everything," the monotone voice said.

"But if we aren't how will we convince her," the higher pitched voice said.

"We won't, she'll just do it by herself," the monotone voice said. I started to open my eyes. "See, she's waking up now," the monotone voice said. When my eyes fully opened, I saw two women standing in front of me. On the right, the old me, Lucy Heartfilia, wearing the usual apparel of a tight fitting shirt and brown skirt with boots. On the left, the new me, Nix, wearing the usual grey t-shirt, and dark jeans with running shoes. Nix's tattoos were visible and ran down her arm, stopping before they met the wrist wraps.

"What is going on," I asked looking at the two versions of me.

"Since it seems no one is able to talk sense into you I got pulled into this," Nix said with a laugh.

"Nix, no need to be so blunt," Lucy said lightly hitting Nix in the arm.

"Hey, there's a reason you're here to," Nix retorted.

"Yes I know," Lucy replied.

"What the hell," I asked looking at the two.

"Okay enough talk, on to business," Lucy said.

"I was about to say," Nix said cracking a smile. Through out my entire time of being Nix I was never this way, so why was this Nix acting so, sociable.

"Why are you both here, I mean," I started.

"Oh my god, I didn't think I was so," Nix said slightly annoyed.

"Calm down Nix, she did just see her friends get kidnapped," Lucy said trying to calm NIx down.

"I'm lost," I said getting to my feet.

"The tattoos you have," Nix finally said after several moments of silence.

"What about them," I asked, causing Nix to almost cringe.

"Your story," Lucy said kindly. "The Protected," Lucy said after a moment.

"The Fighter," Nix added stepping up to Lucy's side.

"The Guardian," I said, clenching my fists.

"Good we're getting somewhere finally," Nix said.

"I still don't understand. What does my tattoos have to do with the three of us," I asked.

"Not the three of us, but just you," Lucy said.

"Lucy is the Protected, I'm the fighter, you're the Guardian," Nix said.

"You are the result of us," Lucy added. "The result of being protected."

"And the result of being a fighter," Nix added. "Those tattoos tell your story, of your transition into who you are now."

"Which is what, what am I now," I asked.

"The person who will give everything to protect your friends," Lucy said.

"And the person who will never go down without a fight," Nix said with a smirk.

"You have the magic from when you were known as Lucy Heartfilia," Lucy said.

"And the strength from when you were known as Nix," Nix said.

"But what if my magic went away over the time of not using it," I asked.

"You really don't know," Nix asked surprised. "Your magic is bound to your strength and endurance," Nix added.

"That's one of the reason no one noticed you were Lucy Heartfilia," Lucy said. "You for one changed your look to Nix, you got more muscular, your scent changed from that of something sweet to that of sweat and work, and your magic tremendously increased."

"I'm surprised you didn't notice you're magic for the past few months," Nix said looking away.

"Still, did you not see what happened when Natsu, and Gray tried to fight back, their magic didn't work," I said, fear creeping up in me.

"Ah, she's scared," Nix said laughing.

"That man, he creates a disbalance of magical energy in his enemies, making their magic not work," Lucy said.

"So he can do that to me if I use magic," I said.

"Not exactly," Lucy said.

"Natsu, Gray, and Erza, they naturally don't have a good balance between magic and their strength, that's one of the reasons why Natsu always destroys things," Nix said.

"You on the other hand," Lucy started. "You have a balance," Lucy said leaving a pause for me to figure out what she meant.

"You're my magical side," I said looking towards Lucy. "And you, you're my strength," I said looking over to Nix. Both of me nodded in approval.

"Just us being here," Lucy started.

"Shows the balance between magic and strength you have created," Nix finished. "So that man, he will have a harder time to create a disbalance between us," Nix added.

"What about that sleep magic," I asked.

"Oh, that, I'm quite sure that in any other case it wouldn't have worked," Lucy said with a smile.

"Then why did it," I asked.

"We really needed to talk to you," Nix said. I remained silent, not sure what to say.

"Look, you've been hiding for so long, and in that time you've grown greatly, both mentally, and physically. Now it's time for you to become who you are now," Lucy said after the moments of silence.

"What am I now though, both of my personalities are standing in front of me," I asked.

"Simple, you're Lucy Nix Heartfilia," Nix said softly. I closed my eyes, to take in the thought, and opened my eyes to face a new person standing in front of me. She had my short hair. Big, hope filled brown eyes, and a smile on her face. She was muscular, and wore a light grey shirt with a bright blue Fairy Tail insignia on it, blue jeans, and running shoes. On her hip was a belt with a ring of golden and silver keys attached. On her right hand was a pink Fairy Tail insignia. The tattoos Nix had ran down her arms, and most likely there were wings on her back.

"Lucy Nix Heartfilia," I said softly, a smile forming on my face. This is who I am, I'm a fighter, I'm a guardian, and I won't ever go down with a fight.

* * *

**Hope enjoyed and see you guys on Saturday.**

**Nerdz out.**


	11. The Final Fight Begins

"Come on Nix, wake up," a man's voice said to me.

"Dammit, I didn't think they were going to take them, I would have stayed and fought if I knew," a female's voice said. I felt a wet object lick my face, my eyes fluttered open to see Theo, Zo and the small dog from the hotel in front of me.

"Shit, how long have I been out," I asked.

"Couple hours," Zo said as I pulled myself to my feet.

"Damn, I need to find," I started only to be stopped by Theo and Zo.

"Not so fast Nix, we need a plan," Zo said backing away slightly. "Won't do us any good to run in there blind," Zo added. I looked at Theo who was waiting for me to say something.

"No," I said sternly. "I have to do this alone," I added.

"What, that's stupid Nix, you won't have a chance without," Zo started.

"Zo, she's right," Theo said a smile on his face. "She needs to do this alone."

"She doesn't even have magic to fight against him," Zo said angrily.

"Zo, trust her," Theo said, his smile not disappearing. "You've given her the strength she needs, now let her do what she wants," Theo added.

"How will she even find them," Zo asked looking towards Theo. The brown dog barked at us, the looked towards the door.

"I think he knows," I said, pulling off the hoodie I was wearing, to reveal my tattooed arms, and partially wrapped arms.

"You let her get tattoos," Zo said enraged.

"Bit late to complain about it," Theo said laughing. "Good luck Nix," Theo added as I ran out the door, the small brown dog running in front of me. People saw me running, and were about to say hi, until they noticed the serious look in my eyes.

My chest burned with what I assume was courage. My body seemed to know what was about to happen, and was preparing itself for the fight. For the first time since I left the guild I felt my magic flowing through my body, and a large amount of it. I suppose the Nix I saw was right, my magic had greatly increased.

I felt a connection to the celestial world that I never felt before. I felt the strength of my celestial spirits with me, even though I knew they most likely didn't even notice it was me. The dog and I ran by corner, after corner, until we left the town, and headed into the forest surrounding the town.

Together the dog and I jumped over fallen trees, and avoided branches. My breath was surprisingly even despite the fact I was running as fast, and hard as I could to reach my friends. Then, right before we hit a clearing the dog stopped, and looked at me with I assume was concerned eyes.

"Thank you, again," I said softly so no one could hear, and patted the dog's head. I peered through the bush in front of me to see my friends, tied up and in a line. All of them beaten like Erza was when I found her. "Go back to Theo and Zo," I said softly to the dog, who whined in return.

"I don't want anyone to get hurt okay, including you, so go," I said, the dog let out another small whimper then started to run back towards the town. I returned to looking at the men in the clearing.

"She should be coming soon," the man who ordered the grunts around said.

"But boss what if she doesn't," a grunt said.

"Then we kill them," the boss said with a wicked smile.

"She, she won't come, she won't give you what you want," Erza said just loud enough that I was able to hear it from where I sat.

"She'll come if she wants to see you all alive," the boss said pulling his hand back to slap Erza. At the sound of his hand against her face my jaw clenched in anger, but I had to wait, to see where my keys were, so then I could have some help in my battle.

"What do you even want with her," Natsu said his head hanging low, as if he lost all hope.

"Ha, we want the celestial world," the boss said laughing as if Natsu asked a stupid question. "And your friend, she can open a portal to their world, then we can gain the power of the celestial spirits, their immortality," the boss pulled out a ring, keys hanging from it, and giggled it making the keys jingle like bells.

"All we need is for your friend to use her spirits to open the portal, and we will be able to be invincible," the boss said laughing in a way only an insane person could. My eyes locked onto the silver and gold keys, my keys. I glanced back at my friends, then at the people around them.

If I could distract the guards watching them, then I could free one, and hope that in the confusion, could free the others. I moved to a position where I could quickly run across the clearing that would make plenty of noise, but ensured I would not be seen. But they would need something to cut the rope that bound them. And he must still be making their magic disbalanced or Erza would have already summoned a dagger to cut the rope, I thought to myself. I looked around and found a semi flat rock that had an edge the was rigid and sharp enough to break through the rope.

I crouched into a running position, and prepared for the confusion that was about to occur. I took a deep breath, and looked at Gray, who was the closest person to give the stone too. I felt my legs twitch in anticipation, I closed my eyes, and cleared my head. When I reopened them, I felt my heart racing, my blood pumping.

The rock was in my right hand, ready to drop it into Gray's as I ran by. "Do what ever it takes to protect your friends," Theo's voice echoed in my head.

I knew in my heart and soul I was willing to do whatever it takes to protect my friends, I was ready to give my life for them. I took another deep breath, and launched off my feet, my feet pounding off the ground as I made more noise than anyone could imagine. Gray was the first to hear it and looked in my direction. When I ran by, I dropped the rock into his hands, and disappeared back into the brush.

* * *

**Hey everyone, so we have 3 chapters left of this story!**

**Feels a bit short I suppose but this, this sets up what I have planned.**

**Next chapter has a lot of fighting in it so be prepared!**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and see you all next time.**

**Nerdz out.**


	12. Saving the Team

"What the hell was that," the boss yelled as I watched Gray fumble with the rock. The grunts turned to face their boss, and shrugged. "Well, go check," the boss yelled louder, causing all the grunts to scramble into the brush that was my path.

I heard the grunts getting closer to me, and quickly searched for a way to lure them away. Then I heard a bark, and a flash of green and black hair run in the distance. "Over there," a man shouted, then I saw a group of grunts run away from the clearing entirely, and chased what I assume was Theo and the dog.

I turned my attention back to the clearing, to see that Gray was already untied, and was working on getting Wendy untied. The boss who was looking the other way turned at the sound of the bark, and saw Gray was now free.

"What the hell do you think you're doing," the boss said angrily, walking up to Gray who stood up, and was backing away. "Looks like I just have to kill one of you now, oh well," he said raising his hand, a fiery sword forming in it. My body acted on it's own, and ran into the clearing, and shielded Gray from the blow that would have most likely killed him.

"I'm," I said, gripping the arm that was slashed by the blade. "I'm not going to let you hurt my friends," I said standing up straight, the pain quickly went away.

"Oh, Nix, why have you come, now you too will die," the man said as he whistled, a group of men came out of the clearing, each of them wore different clothes, and had different weapons on them.

"Gray, get the others free," I said getting into a fighting stance. "Then get to somewhere safe," I added.

"We won't leave you," Erza said getting to her feet. Gray was already working on freeing Natsu, Wendy was standing by Erza, freeing her hands as well. "That's not what," Erza started.

"You think I care about what Fairy Tail wizards do at the moment," I shouted, my heart pounding. "If you don't want to leave that's fine, but all I ask is that you stay out of harms way," I continued. "Leave the fighting to me," I added.

"Get her," the man said, giving the signal for his new grunts to charge at me. This time I can't hold back, this is for the safety of my friends.

"I won't let any of my friends get hurt like that again," I growled, flashed of Levy's condition and Erza's entered my mind. I clenched my fists, and watched as a grunt who wore blue threw a punch at me. I quickly blocked, the punch and twisted his arm in such a way that he let out a yelp of pain, and gave a solid push on the elbow, causing a loud crack to be heard. I followed up with a solid kick to the gut, causing the man in blue to fall back, clutching his elbow, which was now broken.

"She just broke John's arm," the one is dark green yelled angrily, pulling out a bo staff, and charged at me like someone with a spear would. Despite his charging speed I stepped to the side, and dislodged the bo staff from his hands. I quickly grabbed the long staff and parried to the throat, causing the man in green to stumble back, but not to fall to the ground.

"Ha, I won't go down that easily," he said slowly regaining his composure. There was a crack of electricity, and the man in green erupted in lightning. "Let's see how you do against magic," he said in a crazy voice. I glanced behind me to see that my friends were in a relatively safe place in the brushes, and watched in amazement at my fighting abilities.

"Shit," I muttered as a lightning filled punch went towards me. I managed to avoid the attack, leaving me in the perfect position for a throw. I threw the large body of electricity towards the other grunts. However my attempt was in vain for he was able to regain his balance and charged at me.

I gritted my teeth together, if only I had my keys, then I could have a better way of fighting back. I clenched my fists to find a cylinder in my hand, I looked down to see a familiar whip handle, Fleuve d'etoiles.

"Wait, is that," Wendy asked in shock.

"Impossible, how did Nix get that," Erza said. A smile appeared on my face, and I stood up straight, the blue and yellow whip appeared from the handle. I flicked my wrist resulting in a crack from the magical energy that radiated from it. The man in green ran at me again, this time however, I stopped him before he even got close to me. The whip wrapped around his ankle and I gave a hard pull resulting in his balance getting thrown off and him falling to the ground with a loud thud.

Before anyone else could attack me though, the boss walked up, his flaming sword at his side, he slashed at the man in green, and the remaining grunts, causing all of them to fall to the ground. "Looks like I'll just have to deal with you myself," he said with a wicked smile, and evil laugh.

"Fine by me," I said pulling my whip back to prepare for an attack. Then he unclipped the ring of celestial keys from his belt and let them fall onto the ground. I could feel Aquarius yelling from the celestial world, saying it was my fault for letting her key fall onto the ground once more. The boss charged, his sword slashing towards me, I quickly blocked with my whip causing a loud crack.

I kicked the man away, but he quickly returned with a slash that cut me on my right arm. I glanced at my keys, my left hand clutching the bleeding wound on my forearm. Another slash was sent my way, but I rolled out of the way, towards my keys.

My fingers touched the cold metal and I instantly felt all my magical power. I gripped onto the keys and stood up. I let go of my bleeding arm, letting the black hand wrap fall to the ground in shreds. My pink Fairy Tail insignia in full view for everyone to see.

"You've made a big mistake," I said to the boss. "You managed to piss me off, and hurt my friends," I said lifting up the keys so then I could see them better. "And now, you just returned my magic to me," I said clutching the gold and silver keys.

"Lucy," I heard my friends mumble in disbelief.

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**LUCY IS BACK!**

**So this week I'll finish up this story, the final chapter will be up on Saturday.**

**Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you all on Thursday.**


	13. The Mask Crumbles

"So, you were right under our noses the entire time," the boss said angrily. His head hung low, nis knuckles white from how hard he was clutching his sword. He quickly lifted his head, and our eyes met. "I won't let you ruin my dream," he shouted.

"Open," I shouted lifting my ring of keys into the air, a bright gold light shined from the ground. The man's face which was already ugly to start with, twisted into that of a beasts, his nose scrunched up to look like a pig, his mouth curled back to reveal canines that were sharper than Natsu's.

"How dare you summon me without… a …," Aquarius started, only to stop when she saw her other celestial spirits standing there by her side. All my spirits seemed to be confused as to who would be able to summon all of them at once.

"You have hurt everyone who was close to me," I said to the man who was now on all fours, growling like any other beast would. "You wanted to use my celestial magic to kill every celestial spirit and to take over the celestial world," I continued. "Your dream was never going to happen," I said, Theo's story entered my mind. "You should have known that when the man you went after previously didn't help you," I said. I felt more of my magic fill the air, it was like I was about to cast Urano Metria.

As if a last ditch effort to save his life, the man lifted his hand up, I felt a slight push of magic on my body, but nothing happened. the man's eyes went wide. "How, how did, your magic, shouldn't be working," he said desperately, his face becoming less twisted as terror set in. He again tried to disbalance my magic, but nothing happened.

I walked forward, the man cringed back. "Tell me why you deserve to live," I said coldly.

"Be...Because," the man said, his face looking away from me, his body trembling in fear.

"That's what I thought," I said turning back to face my spirits. "I assume he'll have to answer to the Celestial King," I asked my spirits.

"Ye.. Yes," Loke said almost like he was scared of me.

"Then take him," I said softly looking towards my friends who still looked at me in disbelief, now however Theo and Zo had joined them. The both looked at me happily, and I smiled towards them, and started to walk towards them, only to fall due to weak legs.

"I got you," Capricorn said as he caught me. "Lucy," he said softly.

"Thank you," I said softly, I looked back to see my spirits smiling at me. Loke had the man who plotted to destroy them, and disappeared into the celestial world. I half expected the rest of my spirits to follow him, but the stayed there, looking at me. Sagittarius, stood there in attention, then saluted me.

"I'm ready to serve you Miss Lucy," he said in his usual voice. To my surprise the rest of my spirits followed his lead, even Capricorn who was helping me stand.

"Thank you, all of you, go back to the Celestial World, make sure your prisoner won't get out of control," I said softly. Slowly all but Capricorn returned to the Celestial World. "You can go back too Capricorn," I said softly.

"I'll go back later, right now you need me," he said as he helped me walk over to brush where my friends stood.

"Lucy," Wendy cried as she ran into me with a hug. Natsu, and Erza were next to come in with a hug, Gray however hung back.

"I'm sorry I lied to you Gray," I said when Natsu, Erza, and Wendy let go of me. Gray looked at my eyes, then walked up and also gave me a hug.

"Don't be sorry, you lied to protect us," Gray said into my ear. For the first time my mask crumbled away, or what was left of my mask. At that moment, I was me for the first time in months.

* * *

**Well, that's was short.**

**But the next chapter is a decent size, and the last chapter.**

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.**

**I'll see you all on Saturday with the concluding chapter of Lucy Nix Heartfilia.**

**Until then, Nerdz out.**


	14. The Return to Fairy Tail

1 Week Later

After all of our injuries healed we stood in front of the gym that was my home for the past months. Erza, Natsu, Wendy, and Gray stood my side, each of them carrying a small bag over their shoulder. I too had a bag over my shoulder that contained my clothes.

"Be careful Nix," Zo said happily.

"Please, you don't have to call me that anymore," I said.

"Fine, Lucy Nix," Zo said smiling at the use of my first and now middle name.

"Close enough," I said letting out a soft laugh, causing the keys on my hip to jingle.

"Be sure to come back," Theo said walking up, with the brown dog in his arms. The dog barked, and lept out of Theo's arms and went to my side. "He really seems to like you," Theo said laughing.

"Hey bud, you can't come with me, maybe when I come back to visit but not right now," I said softly, petting the dog on the head. A soft whine came from him.

"You should name him Lucy, I mean, he obviously likes you," Theo said picking up to small dog.

"How about Dux," I said, getting a bark in return. "I guess he likes it," I said happily, petting Dux who was again in Theo's arms.

"We'll train him up and such, so then when you come to visit he'll be ready to join you on your journeys," Zo said happily.

"Hey we're going to miss the train," Gray called out already at the street corner.

"Thank you so much, both of you," I said shaking Theo's and Zo's hands before turning to catch up to my friend.

"Like I told you before, don't mention it," Zo said.

My keys jingled as I ran to catch up to Erza and Wendy who were patiently waiting for me as Natsu and Gray were arguing about who was weaker. Together, as a team we walked to the train station, by this point everyone in town learned I was actually Lucy Heartfilia, so as we walked towards the train station they knew I was returning to my true home at Fairy Tail.

"See you soon Lucy Nix Heartfilia," a shop owner yelled at me as I walked by. I threw up my hand and gave a backwards wave to them was I entered the station. After several minutes the four of us were seated on the train, and headed towards Magnolia.

"I still can't believe how far you came in only six months," Erza said as we talked about my training.

"Well all I was doing was training every day over those six months so," I said happily, tapping Natsu on the back, trying to make his motion sickness not seem as bad.

"So did Loke ever tell you what happened to that one guy, what was his name," Gray said trying to remember the name of the man who beaten and almost killed him.

"Xinos," I said relieving Gray from his trouble of trying to remember his name. "And from what Loke said, the Celestial King has stripped him of all his magic, and is putting him to work as a servant," I said thinking back to the last conversation I had with Loke.

"That's a bit light don't you think," Erza said, her arms crossed.

"I think it's to lure him into a false sense of safety," I replied with a soft smile.

"I just can't believe that you managed to beat him on your own, I mean, he managed to get all of our magic not to work, but with you, he just couldn't stop you could he," Gray said with a smile.

"What was his magic anyways," Wendy asked.

"Magic Displacement," I answered. "It makes the magic in someone unbalanced," I continued after seeing Wendy's confusion.

"So then how come you weren't affected by it," Gray asked.

"I was, perfectly balanced between my strength and my magic," I said simply. "If one was to become unbalanced I would still be able to use my magic since naturally I am balanced," I said.

"So we don't have a balance between our magic and strength," Gray asked.

"No, it's naturally unbalanced, making it easy to create a disbalance and disable your magic," I said. "The way it was explained to me was that I have two halves. The Lucy half, that was just magic. And the Nix half, that was just physical strength," I explained. "Those two halves equalled each other out, creating me," I added.

"Sounds like it's hard to be balanced between magic and strength," Erza said with a soft laugh.

"When will this train ride be over," Natsu whined.

"About three more hours," Wendy replied.

"So, uh, is Levy," I said softly after several minutes of silence. "Is Levy okay," I asked.

"She's fine, a few scars here and there, but other than that she's perfectly fine," Wendy answered.

"Good," I said with relief.

"Don't blame yourself for what happened," Gray said. "You did everything to protect you friends, and in the end, you even defeated the bad guy," Gray said smiling.

"But if only I obliged to the letter I got, Levy would have never gotten hurt," I said with guilt.

"And if you obliged then we would of had bigger problems to deal with," Erza said placing her hand on my knee for reassurance.

"You made the best decision you could in the situation you were in," Gray added.

"Thanks," I said with a smile. The rest of the train ride was silent, each of us were anxiously waiting to return home.

"Next Stop, Magnolia," the announcer said.

"Yay," Natsu cheered softly as he held back puke, causing all of us to laugh. Slowly the train pulled into the station and came to a stop. When we all got off Natsu's motion sickness seemed to be gone for he was jumping around excited to see the old man's face when we got back to the guild.

"Come on, let's go," Natsu said happily, his big stupid grin plastered to his face.

"Give Lucy some time," Erza said towards Natsu. "She might not be ready to face Fairy Tail again," Erza added looking towards me.

"Now or never," I said after a moment of silence, a smile forming on my face. I adjusted my small bag on my shoulder and waited for Natsu to start leading us towards Fairy Tail.

"Everyone's going to be jealous that it was us who found Luce," Natsu said pumping his hand into the air. As we walked down the street people looked at us as if we were crazy. But I suppose we were used to that, after all, we were Fairy Tail wizards.

After a long walk we stood outside the guild hall. Gray, Erza, Natsu, and Wendy stood behind me, waiting for me to make my move to enter the guild on my own accord. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to," Wendy said sweetly when I just stood there.

"No," I said. "If I don't do it now I might never do it," I said. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. According to Erza and Gray the guild has been gloomy ever since I left, that explained why I didn't hear any laughter or yelling from the outside. I lifted my hand and pressed it against the door. The wood felt so familiar, the metal the made it hold it's shape made me feel safe.

I gave a slight push, then found it hard to go any farther. I opened my eyes and saw my friends standing at my side their hands also on the door. "You don't have to do this alone," Natsu said with his natural smile. We all gave a push that opened the guild doors. Every one in the guild turned to face the five of us.

The guild was silent, their eyes travelled to me, I could tell they were analysing me, trying to figure out who I was. Everyone seemed sad to see a new face in their home, Mirajane was behind the bar, but her eyes were pink, like she's been crying for a long time. Cana wasn't drinking, which was a first for me. In the back of the guild I saw a giant map with red lines that criss crossed and tacks on cities.

"Oh, I forgot about that," Natsu said rubbing the back of his head. He walked to the back of the guild and then burned down the map.

"What the hell Natsu," a female's voice shouted from the top floor. I could hear Gray and Erza snickering behind me.

"Oh, he's in trouble," Gray said softly. I heard loud stomping coming from the stairs, and saw blue hair.

"Why the hell did you burn the map," the woman shouted. "Now we need to start all over."

"Ow, Levy," Natsu said, causing to guild to crack a soft laugh. "Geez, ouch, will you, OW," Natsu cried out. I saw my blue haired friend giving Natsu a hard tug on his ear, which caused me to break out laughing.

Eyes quickly turned to me as I started to laugh, but I didn't care, I never thought I would see Levy giving Natsu a lecture about how not to burn things that are being used. "Wait, who's she," Gajeel asked walking up to Levy's side.

Eyes then turned to Natsu, who was grinning and giving a light laugh. "She doesn't smell like anyone I know," Gajeel said lifting his nose to me.

"No, I figured I wouldn't smell like I used to," I said simply. No one seemed to have made the connection but then Levy clapped her hand over her mouth, tears started to come to her eyes. She let go of Natsu's ear and slowly walked up to me.

"No, you can't be," Levy said softly, tears escaped her eyes. I got a good look at Levy's face when she removed her hands from her mouth. There was a scar above her eye, and some on her cheeks, her bruised eye was gone, but her hands, her hands were still pretty banged up but other than that she looked like the Levy I remembered.

I felt tears start to push their way up, as Levy closed the distance between. Everyone in the guild was silent, watching what was unfolding in front of them. I dropped my bag to the floor, and finished closing the distance between us and embraced my friend in a hug.

"It's me Levy, I'm back," I said softly. I felt Levy begin to cry, but I knew it was a happy crying. After several moments we pulled aparts, Levy still had tears running down her face but had a smile on her face.

"I, I just can't believe it," Levy said. "You got tattoos," Levy said motioning to my arms.

"I've been gone for over half a year, and the first thing you tell me is that you can't believe I got some tattoos," I said laughing, Levy started to laugh too and wiped away the tears.

"Well, the Lucy I knew would never get tattoos," Levy said still laughing. And it was at that moment the guild started to make sound again. Murmurs spread throughout the guild. Then out of no where.

"LUSHY," Happy shouted as he barrelled into me causing me to fall to the ground. "I missed you so much," Happy cried as he hugged me.

"I missed you too," I said welcoming the cat. All the questions of if I was Lucy stopped then and there. If the guild had tear gates they broke, I was surrounded by my guildmates who dove out of their seats to give me a hug.

Several minutes of just crying and hugging happened before people decided to break away. Once everyone broke away from the hug I looked around, and saw the friendly faces of my friends and family.

"You know what we should do," Natsu shouted from the top floor. A moment of silence passed which seemed to upset Natsu a little bit, but then his smile returned. "WE NEED TO CELEBRATE LUCY'S RETURN," Natsu shouted. The guild erupted in cheers about how we needed to celebrate my return.

"WILL YOU ALL BE QUIET," Makarov shouted as he left his office. "What's with all the commotion anyways," Makarov asked when he saw Natsu standing on the railing of the second floor.

"Uh, did you not hear what I said," Natsu asked surprised that Makarov didn't hear what he said.

"Something about someone's return," Makarov said not giving a second thought to it. "And that you burned the map again," Makarov added causing the guild to laugh. The laughing seemed to have caught Makarov off guard because he looked over us very closely before continuing.

"This guild hasn't been so happy since," he paused.

"Blondie's back," Laxus said casually walking over to the railing where Natsu stood. "And will you please get off of the railing," Laxus added pushing Natsu off, the guild again erupted in laughter.

"Wait, what did you say," Makarov said. "I don't see Lucy," he said, again causing the guild to erupt in laughter.

"She's the female Laxus," someone shouted. Another uproar of laughs filled the guild, Laxus clenched his jaw and let the laughing pass. When the laughing finally died down Makarov looked over the guild.

"Right here Master," I said raising my hand up so Master was finally able to see me. The people who stood around me made some room so then Master would have been able to see me better.

A smile appeared on his face as our eyes met. "Lucy Heartfilia, it's good to see you've returned to Fairy Tail," Makarov said kindly.

"Actually, it's Lucy Nix Heartfilia," I replied, causing me to get strange looks.

"Nix," multiple people asked. I nodded at the sound of my middle name.

"We'll ask Lucy about her travels later, but now, let's do what Natsu suggested. And celebrate the return of our family member Lucy," Makarov said clearly and happily. Every cheered at the thought, I smiled, and looked up at Master and Laxus, only to see Laxus looking directly at me, smiling and giving a nod of approval.

* * *

**Well guys here it is, the final chapter.**

**I loved writing this story and hope you all loved it.**

**For those of you hoping/wandering, there will be a sequel!**

**THAT WILL HAVE ROMANCE!**

**But I'm not going to announce what the shippings are until the sequel is released.**

**However there is a hint in this chapter as to who Lucy will be paired with.**

**I would love to see your guys' guesses, and I might even confirm them if some of you are correct.**

**I will make an announcement on this story when I start uploading the sequel.**

**Anyways thanks for your guys' support of this story, you guys are awesome.**

**I'll see you next time.**

**Nerdz out.**


	15. Author's Note

**THE TIME HAS COME!**

**Lucy Nix Heartfilia: Changes IS NOW RELEASED!**

**I don't what else to say but thank you to all you people who have shown your support. If it wasn't for that support there might not have been a sequel.**

**For those of you who are going to read the sequel I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

**Until next time, Nerdz out.**


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